UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

How Australian fathers shape the trajectory of their children’s wellbeing. This project aims to examine how father involvement, and the factors that shape it, influence the long-term wellbeing trajectories of Australian children across developmental stages. By leveraging Australia’s highly regarded longitudinal survey assets, we address a current lack of national and contemporary knowledge about the patterns, moderators, and longitudinal impact of father involvement across life. The research will advance Australia’s position toward promoting equitable parenting, while the new knowledge from this project could inform the development of innovative and targeted policies or interventions optimising father involvement and promoting improved developmental outcomes for Australian children. Field of research: 5201 - Applied and Developmental Psychology The importance of caregiving on children’s outcomes are generally well understood by Australian governments, service organisations, and communities. However, Australia lacks the evidence about the impact of fathers and male caregivers on children’s long-term development outcomes. This project will (1) describe the impact that male caregivers have on the growth and development of their children’s wellbeing across time and how this may predict wellbeing in later life, (2) identify the differing patterns of male caregiver involvement with their children across time and how this may predict wellbeing in later life, (3) identify the practical constraints and limitations within the family home and workplace that impact on how male caregivers contribute to their children’s mental health and wellbeing, and (4) utilise these findings to produce policy and service recommendations needed by governments, services, communities, and families. This project will deliver evidence to support Australian child and family policies (e.g., National Children’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy) around the engagement of fathers and male caregivers in their children’s lives, thereby maximising benefits to children's long-term wellbeing and developmental outcomes. This work will be guided by the input of community partners and build the nation’s capacity for ongoing research excellence through supporting early and mid-career researchers.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Non-local PDE approach to moving fronts and bushfires. Advancing our knowledge of bushfire propagation is of paramount importance for Australia, from an economic, environmental, biological, and social point of view. The main aim of this project is introducing a new mathematical model to describe moving fronts in bushfires, that relies on a deep understanding of far-away interactions responsible for fronts propagation, in light of geometric flows and partial differential equations. From the theoretical standpoint, this novel approach will produce significant progress in terms of mathematical knowledge, since, along the way, new and innovative mathematical ideas will be introduced and challening questions will be addressed, providing a great potential impact on the mathematical community. Field of research: 4904 - Pure Mathematics This project expands our knowledge of bushfire propagation, which is of paramount importance for Australia, from an economic, environmental, biological, and social point of view. The use of advanced mathematical methods will allow us to understand the generation and spread of fires and their impact on biological groups. Presently, there is a fundamental need to deepen our understanding of bushfires and to provide models which are, on the one hand, simple enough to allow for a rigorous and quantitative analysis and the coding of software that can be used in real-time in case of an emergency, and, on the other hand, profound enough to capture the essential features of the complicated structures involved in a bushfire. This project aims at closing this gap, leveraging the experience and creativity of two groups of researchers engaging on a new collaboration to share their complementary sets of skills to tackle the severe difficulties presented by this arduous task of paramount importance. Along the way, the project will also produce significant progress in terms of mathematical knowledge, thanks to the innovative approach and brand-new ideas that will have a significant impact on the mathematical community.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Rotation sensors for 6-component seismology. This project aims to fill a major gap in seismology by creating and characterising the first high-sensitivity field-deployable six-component seismometer that can replace large expensive arrays of conventional seismometers. Made possible by the spectacular properties of newly invented amorphous zirconium alloys combined with quantum limited optical rotation sensors, the new seismometer will allow directional seismic imaging in places where arrays are not feasible or too expensive, such as the sea-floor and volcanos, and for monitoring fault movements, intruders and military activity. It will generate valuable intellectual property as well as training students in areas of ultrasensitive instrumentation and six-component seismology. Field of research: 4014 - Manufacturing Engineering Seismology is a critical technology for discovering minerals as well as environmental monitoring, transport monitoring, planetary studies, security monitoring and explosion detection. Conventional seismometers can only measure 3 of the 6 components of seismic waves, which means that they cannot determine the wave directions and determine where the signals are coming from. This limitation is normally overcome by using tens to hundreds of seismometers in a huge array. If the three missing components are measured, a single seismic station can “see” where seismic waves are coming from using simple algorithms that convert the data into source maps. The concept has been proven, but there are no PORTABLE rotation sensors with sufficient sensitivity to measure the missing components. This project will fill this gap, creating instruments that include high-sensitivity rotation sensors that will allow a single instrument station to replace the huge arrays of seismometers currently used. The instrument itself will be of significant commercial value, while its applications in Australia are enormous. Introducing rotational seismology will disrupt conventional seismology by providing a dramatic new tool that will improve all aspects of seismology and make it much easier to apply, thereby benefiting all the current seismic applications and opening up new ones. It will pave the way for a harvest of new knowledge in all branches of seismology.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Looks aren’t everything - the coevolution of galaxy structure & environment. Galaxies have immense diversity in their visual appearance. Interestingly, their looks are strongly correlated with where they live - galaxies in over-dense environments appear very different to those in isolated regions. This suggests that a galaxy's local environment impacts its appearance. Hidden in these looks is a wealth of information about how the galaxy formed and evolved - with different visual structures having different evolutionary paths. Extracting this information is problematic and requires high resolution (space-telescope) imaging, sophisticated software and robust environmental measurements. In this project we will use state-of-the-art data and software to determine how galaxy environments shape their visual appearance. Field of research: 5101 - Astronomical Sciences This project leverages state-of-the-art datasets and facilities in Australia, overseas and in space combined to study the process that shape galaxies - one of the most pressing questions in galaxy evolution science. Australia has invested a huge amount of resources and time into the realisation of the data that will be used in this project, e.g. GAMA and DEVILS were undertaken on the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT - where a consortium of 13 Universities committed over $20M), WAVES will be undertaken on the 4m Multi-Object Spectrograph Telescope (where Australia has invested ~$3M), space-telescope-data from Euclid, Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) represents billions of dollars of investment world-wide, and the software and techniques used here were developed as the result of both CI-s successful ARC-funded Future Fellowships. This project will strongly maximise return on these investments. It will create unique science that will raise the international profile of Australian astronomy, and attract and train young scientists in modern astronomy surveys and analysis. This will lead to highly desirable and transferable skills, which will benefit the Australian economy. The science topics are ideal for captivating the Australian public in STEM, in which the lead-CI has a strong history.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Cracking the Code: Parent Influences on Adolescent Daily Coping with Stress. This project aims to answer vital questions scientists and parents face as adolescents turn to a modern digital toolbox to cope with growing challenges. By advancing a novel theory-based framework, the project expects to generate new knowledge for parents, helping teens to make the most of opportunities and reduce risk. The project combines a nationwide survey of parents with high-resolution insights into parent and teen daily life via novel data collected from smartphones. Expected outcomes include advancement of a new theory of parenting to support teens and refined methods for addressing parent and teen daily experiences. This should provide significant benefits to building health and wellbeing of Australian adolescents and caregivers. Field of research: 5201 - Applied and Developmental Psychology Over 1/3 of Australian adolescents feel that they cannot cope effectively with their stress. At the same time, teens are increasingly turning to digital tools, platforms, and social media in an attempt to cope with their stressors (for example, going online to connect with supports or find information to better respond to a stressor); yet parents report feeling ill-equipped to support them in this endeavour. Despite the magnitude of these issues, research is yet to identity how parents can best support their adolescent’s coping success and safety in this digital arena. This project addresses a critical gap in science and policy and will directly benefit Australian teenagers and their families by (a) identifying the optimal digital strategies adolescents can use in the face of stress, as well as (b) the modifiable behaviours that parents can adopt to support their teen’s healthy digital coping to enhance teen’s wellbeing and buffer them from mental health problems. These strategies will be communicated through community feedback sessions, media, and incorporated into existing and new parenting interventions and supports. Findings will have direct relevance to informing national policy discussions around adolescents’ use of digital platforms including on reducing harms (i.e. social media bans for teens) and mental health policy aiming to reduce burden of mental health in Australia.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Photothermal catalysis-based chemical manufacture for space exploration. This project aims to address future chemical manufacture in space exploration and settlement by conceptualising solar refinery panels to conduct novel catalysis. It expects to generate new knowledge in the area of future-oriented, space and/or Mars chemistry and engineering using interdisciplinary approaches. Expected outcomes of this project include theory development for photothermal catalysis and design strategies for building solar-driven, zero-emission, green chemical manufacture bases in space or on Mars. This should provide significant benefits such as intellectual properties of space chemical manufacture and infrastructure, as well as new theories and disciplines for the interstellar future of Australia and whole human beings. Field of research: 4016 - Materials Engineering This pioneering project seeks to utilise solar energy for the transformation of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane, into fuels and fine chemicals through cutting-edge catalytic processes. The novel process of photothermal catalysis efficiently leverages both the photon energy and heating effect of solar radiation. The reactor design and three crucial chemical reactions, i.e., dry reforming of methane, syngas to methanol, and methanol to olefins, will be optimised to accommodate space operation and Mars settlement. The project will tackle several research gaps, including a solar-driven flow reactor, high-performance photothermal catalyst materials, scalable photothermal catalytic conversion, and the development of strategies for space and Mars applications. The reactor and catalysts developed in this project have the potential to become commercial products, generating economic benefits. The short-term goal of the project is to contribute to decarbonisation efforts, resulting in environmental benefits. This project will be promoted for mid- and long-term objectives that provide insights into the future of human settlement in space and on Mars, offering a sense of security and potential social and cultural benefits for humanity. The research outcomes will be used to engage with industries and government to inform and align with space exploration and settlement strategies. This project may usher in an era of preparing chemical manufacturing for space and Mars.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Molecular Engineering of Locally Concentrated Ionic Liquid Electrolytes . This project aims to discover new locally concentrated ionic liquid electrolytes, which have enhanced performance compared to current electrolytes, from mixtures of metal salts, ionic liquids, and diluent molecules. This project expects to use cutting-edge techniques to understand the arrangements and dynamics of ionic liquids, metal ions, and diluent molecules, in the bulk and at electrodes. Expected outcomes of this project include new knowledge that will enable molecular scale engineering of high performing, low viscosity, locally concentrated ionic liquid electrolytes. This should provide benefits via new batteries with superior energy storage capacity and durability which are crucial for integrating renewable energy sources. Field of research: 3406 - Physical Chemistry Batteries and other electrical energy storage devices are crucial for powering our modern world, but their performance is often limited by the thick, viscous liquid electrolytes they contain, which slow down ion movement and reduce efficiency. This project aims to develop improved electrolytes by combining metal salts, ionic liquids, and diluting molecules to create less viscous, more conductive mixtures while maintaining high ion concentrations in specific areas. We will study the arrangement and movement of ions, ionic liquids, and diluent molecules within the electrolyte using advanced techniques. This molecular-level understanding will help engineer superior electrolytes, leading to batteries with higher energy storage capacity and longer lifetimes. Developing high-performance batteries is crucial for adopting renewable energy sources in both stationary and mobile applications. Longer-lasting batteries will also reduce the environmental impact associated with battery production and disposal. Project outcomes will be communicated to industry via articles and presentations, maximizing understanding and future adoption of this potentially transformative technology. The electrolytes discovered in this project generate new opportunities for local manufacturing and benefit Australian industry, creating opportunities for economic growth and job creation.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Understanding the Future of the Great Southern Reef. I will integrate long-term ecological field data, field experiments and comparative analyses of ecosystem functions of projected replacement habitats, to uncover the resilience, mechanisms of change and consequences of climate-driven transformation of kelp forests on the Great Southern Reef (GSR). This will generate new knowledge critical to understanding future trajectories for the GSR, and their implications for ecosystem services to Australia. This project will help secure the legacy of the GSR, a global biodiversity hotspot and sentinel of climate-driven change for the world’s kelp forests, one of the largest, most unique and valuable, but consistently overlooked, ecosystems in Australia. Field of research: 4101 - Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation This project will expose new information on how the Great Southern Reef (GSR) has changed in structure and function over the past two decades. Focused on kelp forests, climate change and marine heatwaves, the research aims to reveal community-level shifts in this biodiversity hotspot in response to our changing oceans. The project will use ecological surveys, experiments, and models to better understand future trajectories of the GSR, including identifying areas displaying resistance to climate and human-driven impacts, and the quantifying the consequences of transformations to replacement habitats on the functioning of this valuable temperate ecosystem. The project will build capacity by training new marine biologists and by consolidating extensive, long-term data sets covering over 1000 kilometers, a vital baseline and resource for future research. The new understanding generated by the project will open opportunities for conservation and sustainable management, not only for the GSR but for kelp forests more broadly. The project's significance is underscored by the GSRs economical, ecological and cultural importance: it contributes >$10 billion/yr to the economy, >70% of its species are found nowhere else on Earth, and it connects over 50 indigenous nations. To this end, the project will help secure an overlooked, yet invaluable temperate marine ecosystem in Australia.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

A NEW PHASE OF OFFSHORE RENEWABLE ENERGY HYDRODYNAMICS. Vast oceanic resources of wave and wind energy (mostly in deep water) will power the global energy transition, with Australia particularly blessed. Floating offshore wind turbines and wave energy converters are new classes of structures whose performance and motion in waves depend on how they are controlled. Such complexity drives cost. This project will develop a new approach for explicit quantification and isolation of critical hydrodynamic loads and responses. The clarity of hydrodynamic understanding delivered using this method will enable simpler approaches to optimal design and control of floating offshore renewable energy structures. Such optimisation will deliver lowered costs for industry, unlocking investment and jobs. Field of research: 4015 - Maritime Engineering Wave energy converters (WECs) and floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) are structures which float in the ocean while converting waves and winds into electricity. The way they oscillate in response to wave loads depends on the mechanical and electrical settings given by their operators, and can therefore change from day to day. In this respect, they are very different to traditional floating platforms, which behave in the same manner across time. Understanding the nature of the wave loading on WECs and FOWTs is essential to bring down their cost, and thus increase the speed of the transition to net zero. In this project, we will develop a new method to better understand wave loads on these structures. This method will involve testing WECs and FOWTs in the lab across a carefully chosen range of settings, with waves made by a wave paddle and motions imposed by an actuator. By systematically combining the results from a range of tests we can break the loading down into more easily understood pieces to enable cheaper design and more efficient operation. Because Australia has the best wave energy resource in the world, and one of the best for offshore wind, we stand to benefit significantly from development of these new industries. In addition, our region is hungry for new offshore solutions that Australian ingenuity can provide. Our methods can be widely adopted by offshore engineering industries and the team conducting this research has many links to this industry.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Life on the rocks: rapid adaptation in the wild. This project aims to determine the genomic parameters that facilitate rapid adaptation in the wild. Wild populations are becoming smaller and more isolated, compromising their capacity to adapt to a changing environment. This project combines advanced genomic analysis with nearly three decades of field data on a species whose habitat drastically changes colour where land clearing occurs. Intricately camouflaged lizards become conspicuous, yet numerous independent populations appear to show adaptative colour change. The project expects to provide advancement by utilizing powerful population-level replication to determine the genomic parameters that underpin rapid adaptation, significantly benefiting the management of vulnerable biodiversity. Field of research: 3103 - Ecology The environment is changing rapidly, and wild populations are often no longer suited to their surroundings. The best chance of survival for these populations is to adapt to their new environment. Unfortunately, there are very few natural systems with the population replication needed to inform us on what helps this process. Here we use a wild lizard that has hundreds of discrete populations to identify the key factors in the wild that help species adapt to a changing environment. The lizards live on granite outcrops that have persisted through land clearing, but now have a drastically altered surface colour. We have observed population declines and extinction, but also numerous populations where lizards have seemingly changed colour to match this new environment. By determining the genetic and environmental factors that facilitated this rapid change and promote population persistence, we can advise conservation managers on the parameters best prioritised in their management of vulnerable populations. In so doing we will help realise the federal government’s 10-year plan for a zero extinctions target for Australian species and to support species resilience. Potential benefits will be translated outside of academia via communications with stakeholders in conservation agencies, government and natural resource management. The proposed research will also continue to build a long-term field model system of value to Australian science over-and-above the immediate benefits outlined.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Income Inequality, Asset Returns, and the Capital Share in Australia. We aim to show that income inequality measured by income shares is currently mis-measured due to omission of several important sources of capital income, such as depreciation allowances, imputed rent, and capital gains. To address this, the project aims to develop an analytical framework equipped to construct corrected measures of income shares that include the omitted capital income and cover a much longer period than previous inequality measures for Australia, the US, UK, Germany, and Scandinavia. We expect that inequality has followed a trajectory that is quite different from conventional measures of the functional income distribution. This has implications for several strands of macroeconomic analysis and economic policy. Field of research: 3801 - Applied Economics The income distribution between capital and labour plays an important role in the assessment of inequality and macroeconomic analysis. Although routinely used, the income shares estimated by standard national accounts are often misleading measures of inequality because they omit depreciation allowances, capital gains on fixed capital, and capital income/loss on domestic government debt. Furthermore, implicit rental income on housing is markedly underestimated because capital gains on real estate is omitted and, therefore, theory inconsistent. The project has several implications for policy: 1) The generated productivity data will show whether wages have been growing too fast or too slow; 2) the inflationary impact of income shares can be assessed; 3) the productivity advances in Australia can be better accessed than with previous data; and 4) a much improved measure of income inequality will give insight into the evolution of income shares.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Pilbara Dreaming: Rock Art, Water and Heritage Futures. This project will demonstrate the critical role that Pilbara rock art has in the peopling and maintenance of the arid zone of Australia, from 50,000 years ago to the present. The interconnectivity of creation stories, art and water provides a unique lens on intergenerational knowledge transmission and cultural connections. The Pilbara’s mineral wealth is crucial to Australia’s economy with mining already covering 55% of the region. Yet there is no heritage conservation strategy to protect this region’s cultural assets. This collaboration with Aboriginal Traditional Owners will reform policy and lead to improved conservation of heritage places of global significance. Field of research: 4501 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Culture, Language and History Rock art reveals Australia’s 65,000-year human history in ways that no other archaeology can. The Pilbara is key to understanding how Aboriginal people used art when they first entered the vast deserts of Australia. This same region is under intense pressure from mining industries, which are of great economic importance to Australia. The Pilbara is 80% native title determined, with Indigenous cultural landscapes that are significant, rare and non-renewable. The loss of important places like Juukan Gorge shows that we must improve Australia’s cultural heritage processes and develop trustworthy research with Traditional Owners and Custodians to enable their management of this cultural estate. This project brings innovative science to dating the region’s painted art and engravings; chemistry/pigment studies to understand cultural connections; remote sensing, monitoring and climate data to understand water permanence, and brings this science into conversation with traditional ecological knowledge (TEK). This collaboration will contribute to developing world's best conservation policy and Indigenous agreement-making, providing certainty to the mining industry and thus reaping economic benefits to the nation. By addressing a critical knowledge gap in the human and environmental history of Australia, and developing strategic management solutions to protect this region's cultural estate, the Project will benefit local communities to manage heritage of high value to all Australians.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Hydrogen Liquefaction Optimization via Thermophysical Property Measurements. This project aims to improve the cooling process needed to keep hydrogen in a liquid state, which is essential for safe and efficient storage and transport. By developing novel apparatus to measure how different cooling fluids (“refrigerants”) work at relevant conditions, the project will generate accurate models to increase cooling efficiency, reduce energy consumption, and lower operational costs. Expected outcomes include advanced models integrated into industry-standard software, enabling better process design and identification of optimal refrigerant composition. This work will support Australia’s leadership in hydrogen technology and advance the global transition towards net-zero, promoting cleaner energy solutions on a large scale. Field of research: 3406 - Physical Chemistry This project aims to improve the hydrogen liquefaction process, a critical step for large-scale hydrogen transportation and storage. Hydrogen liquefaction is currently costly and energy-intensive, requiring between 11.9 and 15.0 kWh per kilogram and costing up to $4.6 AUD per kilogram. This research will focus on optimising the performance of mixed refrigerants used in hydrogen liquefaction to lower energy use and operational costs, making hydrogen transport and storage more affordable. As Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stated, “Australia has all the ingredients needed to become both a major hydrogen producer and a global exporter.” With the hydrogen export market expected to reach $10 billion annually by 2040, minimising liquefaction costs will strengthen Australia’s competitiveness, drive job creation, and support the clean energy sector. Environmentally, the project supports Australia’s net-zero goals by greenhouse gas emission reduction with more sustainable energy solutions. To maximise the impact, the project will work closely with industries, including priority access to FEnEX CRC’s hydrogen liquefaction pilot plant and the use of FEnEX CRC’s industry network. Results will be shared through industry workshops, conferences, and collaborations, ensuring that the research has practical applications in Australia’s hydrogen production systems and contributes to national energy strategies.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

How the land became Country: the archaeology of people and trees in Oceania. Trees are essential to human life. Archaeobotany explores the deep history of this relationship through anthracology (wood charcoal analysis) and this project will position Australia as a global leader in the discipline. It will establish its application across Australia and the Pacific, developing essential resources, pioneering new methods and studies, to deliver unique datasets evidencing the combined history of people and trees across Oceania. The project will generate new knowledge on the archaeology of traditional ecological practices and the creation of cultural landscapes. Benefits include supporting two-ways science for Indigenous-led environmental management and the solutions offered for a sustainable future. Field of research: 4513 - Pacific Peoples Culture, Language and History There is more to wood charcoal than meets the eye: by recognising which trees they came from and how people used them in the past, charcoal can reveal the history of forests, of whole ecosystems and how people managed and moved through the landscape. Charcoal can tell us how the land became Country – a term used not just in Australia but across the Pacific to characterise the intrinsic relationship woven between humans and their environment to create a home. This project will use wood charcoal from archaeological sites to address a significant gap in knowledge: despite many debates on the domestication of plants in Australia and the Pacific, there is limited data on the archaeological history of traditional management of the vegetation. This project will provide important benefit for Australians, by documenting the long-term history of Indigenous ecological practices. It will support collaborative science that enable locally grounded, sustainable management of the environment, in Australia and the Pacific region. Research outcomes will be promoted through plain-language reports and presentations, educational workshops in schools and universities, and media communication, including through an online presence.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Understanding Wellbeing in Daily Life: Key Predictors and Causal Mechanisms. Experiences of wellbeing - including positive emotions (hedonic wellbeing) and purpose/meaning (eudaimonic wellbeing) - are key to thriving communities and healthy, productive individuals. However, little is known about the underlying causal factors contributing to daily life changes in states of hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing. This project will build a novel, comprehensive model that explains wellbeing fluctuations in daily life in the general population. Subjective, behavioral, and physiological measures are included, with big data methods to identify important predictors and test for causal associations with wellbeing. Findings will enhance our understanding of the mechanisms contributing to variation in wellbeing in daily life. Field of research: 5205 - Social and Personality Psychology The majority (>60%) of Australians report suboptimal levels of wellbeing, with large costs to individuals and society. Poor wellbeing is linked to lower work productivity, more physical health problems, reduced coping with stress, increased mortality, impaired daily functioning, and a weaker national economy, among others. While some determinants of wellbeing are systemic in nature, others can be changed at the individual level, even for those in difficult circumstances. However, research currently neglects key features of wellbeing, focusing predominantly on transient positive emotions rather than more sustainable feelings of meaning and purpose. Furthermore, little is known about what causes and maintains good wellbeing as it is experienced in real time in daily life. This project seeks to understand the psychological, physiological, and behavioural contributors to different types of wellbeing in daily life, using big data methods to build a comprehensive model that illuminates causal relationships. This model will have implications for public health policy, and will inform efforts to increase wellbeing in the general population that lead to healthy and thriving communities. It will also yield a validated measure for Australian researchers to use to index states of wellbeing. To facilitate the application of our findings to Australian communities, we will conduct a workshop disseminating our results to national stakeholders, as well as writing news articles for the public.

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Developing effective, efficient and scalable clinical pathways for... Category: Medical Research

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Trust and cooperation using video games. Trust and cooperation are critical for any social enterprise. To understand how these drivers operate, game theory models from economics and biology can be applied to human interactions. While such applications can improve productivity and efficiency, there are two foundational knowledge gaps that must be addressed: 1) Can we use innovations in disease modelling to explain the erosion and regain of cooperation and trust in complex social networks? 2) How do human biases skew real world results away from model predictions? By applying the ground-breaking gaming approach of our Key Industry Partner, we will use real video game players to provide an applied integration of theories of trust and cooperation into educational productivity. Field of research: 3902 - Education Policy, Sociology and Philosophy Cooperation and trust are vital for the success of the human social structure. Cooperation is so important to both economics and education that a series of mathematical models were developed to explain group action. The use of these models to explore human cooperation, however, has mostly been limited to theoretical mathematics and simple interaction networks. This approach fails to appreciate the complexity of real human behaviour, and does not reflect the complex social systems that humans construct. This project will solve this problem by utilising an emerging tool in Australia’s education system: the use of science-based video games. By partnering with the exciting initiatives of our Key Industry Partner, Arludo, we will use video games based on real scientific models to engage a diverse audience, and supply the most complete framework for real human behaviour in response to complex cooperative challenges. By integrating Arludo’s access to the scope of Australia’s education system, the project will provide entirely novel insights into cooperative behaviour and flexibility at primary, secondary, and tertiary level. These results will be of direct relevance to Arludo and other educational game developers, by providing improvements for existing cooperative educational gaming products. The project will also provide a blueprint for fostering cooperation and trust at each stage of educational development within Australia’s schooling system.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Waterwise greening for healthy communities: Benefits, costs, and equity. Waterwise greening is a way of developing greenspaces, such as parks and urban forests, that optimizes water-use efficiency. This project aims to identify the environmental, social, and economic benefits and costs of waterwise greening to support planning of non-potable water supplies. The project will generate enhanced understandings of public preferences for, and management considerations of, waterwise greening that mitigates heat and improves air quality. Results will contribute to a set of guidelines to help governments build climate-resilient cities. This project is expected to benefit Australians through improved health outcomes and reduced costs-of-living, particularly in communities most vulnerable to climate-change impacts. Field of research: 3801 - Applied Economics Cities across Australia are experiencing more intense heatwaves and droughts, which cause damaging environmental and public health impacts. This project will provide governments with a holistic view of the benefits and costs of implementing waterwise greening (e.g., parks, street trees, sporting ovals) as a strategy to mitigate against heat and safeguard and improve air quality in urban areas. The project will quantify links between irrigation inputs and different forms of urban greening, and the resulting environmental changes that influence human health. A key focus will be placed on developing a better understanding of community preferences for, and social equity considerations of, different waterwise greening strategies. Findings will inform a set of guidelines relevant to state and local governments across the country. Results of this project will enable better decision-making about water allocations in urban and regional urban centres. Working with state and local governments as industry partners, research outcomes will directly inform future action plans and policies related to water allocations and waterwise urban greening. This project will help ensure that all communities, especially those most vulnerable to climate change, benefits from improved health and cost-savings associated with greener, cooler urban spaces with enhanced air quality.

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

REPROGRAMMING STRESS-INDUCED CELLULAR SIGNALING TO IMPROVE THERAPY... Category: Medical Research

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Bridging the Blue: Ocean Connectivity for All. Ocean connectivity –the exchange of water and organisms across ocean areas– is essential for healthy marine ecosystems, yet assessing connectivity is currently limited to experts. This project aims to make ocean connectivity accessible to all. Using cutting-edge ocean models and mathematical techniques, this project will bridge the gap between experts and a wide group of users by developing a reliable, user-friendly tool. The key project outcome will be a tool that allows the integration of crucial ocean connectivity data into marine management decisions. This tool is vital for addressing major environmental challenges and will provide significant benefits to sustainably managing, protecting, and restoring Australia’s marine environment. Field of research: 3708 - Oceanography Australia’s marine estate is the third largest in the world and contributes $100 billion annually to the economy and supports over 450,000 jobs. Most marine-dependent sectors rely on healthy and sustainably managed marine ecosystems. Marine environments are constantly influenced by ocean currents that connect species and habitats, and exchange water, organisms, and nutrients between different ocean areas. Understanding this ocean connectivity is essential for effective marine management, yet accessing this information currently requires costly and time-consuming expert analyses. This project will remove these barriers by developing a user-friendly, reliable tool that makes ocean connectivity data accessible to all. This project is of national significance as it will provide vital ocean connectivity information and evidence-based decision support for Australia’s marine management and industries. This will help ensure the sustainable stewardship of Australia’s marine environment and allow Australians to continue enjoying its many social, cultural, environmental, and economic benefits. The project outcomes will include a freely available user-friendly web-app to assess ocean connectivity, with incorporated use-cases tailored to and developed in collaboration with marine managers and industry, and nationwide workshops to support smooth integration into management practices.

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Mature neuronal cell culture systems for the study of human disease Category: Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

REPROGRAMMING STRESS-INDUCED CELLULAR SIGNALING TO IMPROVE THERAPY... Category: Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Decoding Host Invasion: Mapping Secondary Metabolite Weaponry of... Category: Medical Research

GrantConnect (Australian Government grants) · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Risk Stratification in Portal Hypertension Category: Medical Research

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Towards an Australian Solid State Nuclear Clock. This project aims to investigate and develop materials, techniques required for construction of a solid-state nuclear isomer transition clock together with emergent applications. These next generation advanced clocks, gained a lot of attention after 2023, promise to surpass all existing atomic systems in precision in a more reliable package. Leveraging international collaborations, it will provide a foundation for both a practical device and fundamental knowledge of an engineered nuclear quantum system. This projects will advance Australia’s position in time keeping, the backbone of modern communication, commerce, defence systems, metrology and fundamental science providing nation resilience to interactions in access to stable time scales. Field of research: 5108 - Quantum Physics This project will close research gaps related to the knowledge and technology required to construct the first solid state nuclear isomer transition clock. This development will benefit Australia through Economic Growth, Technological Sovereignty by reducing reliance on foreign technologies and critical infrastructure, Education and Workforce Development. It aligns with Australia’s commitment to leadership in quantum technologies. Advanced timekeeping systems developed through this project will directly impact national communication, navigation and metrological systems in commercial, defense, and research sectors, all of which rely on precision time scales. This growth in expertise and technology will foster new commercialisation projects through partnerships with industry, high-skill job creation and emergence of startups within Australia’s burgeoning quantum ecosystem, projected to generate $6 billion annually by 2045. It will provide training for students in advanced metrology, material science, optics. Australia’s domestic solid state nuclear clock will provide sovereign access to reliable and resilient timekeeping systems, ensuring that critical capabilities remain secure and under national control. This will close the current capability gap and reducing dependence on foreign atomic clocks, thus enhancing national security and technological independence. The project fosters international partnerships, enhancing Australia’s standing in the global scientific community.